Bright futures
- 27 May 2015
Pam Bigelow from the Indigenous Art Centre Alliance based in Cairns talks about the importance of art centres to remote Indigenous communities and how the Alliance is helping the artists realise their potential.
The Indigenous arts sector had its beginnings in the desert community of Papunya in the 1970s. Within a decade the artists of Papunya Tula had gained national and international acclaim for their extraordinary works, heralding the start of a prolific and highly successful Western Desert art movement. The concept of the ‘art centre’ spread throughout the nation like wild fire, resulting in Indigenous artists across Australia creating extraordinary contemporary and culturally significant works of art that are nationally and internationally recognised as one of the most important arts movements of the twentieth century.
Today there are over 100 Indigenous art centres across the nation. Located predominantly in remote Indigenous communities, the importance of art centres cannot be underestimated. Art centres are Indigenous owned and governed social enterprises that receive assistance from federal and state funders. They provide a place for creative excellence, support cultural practices, enable the production and sale of work, contribute to personal and community wellbeing, ensure artists’ rights are upheld and provide opportunities for economic engagement and employment.
The art centres in the Central/Western Desert and Kimberley and Arnhem Land regions recognised the need for professional support and collectively founded Desart, Association of Northern, Kimberley and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists (ANKAAA), Ananguku Arts and Aboriginal Art Centre Hub Western Australia (AACHWA). Many of these well-established peak bodies have been operating for several decades providing required services and advocacy to their members.
The art centre movement is relatively new to Queensland and has grown rapidly. The thirteen Far North Queensland and Torres Strait art centres pushed to form their own Indigenous Art Centre Alliance – IACA. Over its three years of operation since 2012, IACA has provided training and support in areas as diverse as governance, legal rights, new technology and art practice. IACA has commissioned research to identify the specific industry needs and respond to challenges for the region such as providing human resource services, marketing and promotion assistance. Through its newsletter the organisation has also been highly successful in promoting the region’s art centres and artists to the market.
Every year IACA runs two conferences that are mostly held in members’ communities. These important get-togethers offer staff and artists the opportunity to network, share practical ideas and problem solve, supported by industry specialists who are able to share their expertise in areas such as studio management, IT, information and image management, marketing, financial planning and management, funding and exhibition opportunities. They also help alleviate some of the professional isolation faced by many of the staff who work and live in extremely remote and often challenging locations.
Equally important at these conferences are discussions surrounding the complex ‘big picture’ issues impacting on the future direction of the Indigenous contemporary art sector. They include changing market conditions, industry issues such as provenance, branding and maintaining quality and supply, governance and the regulatory environment, and most importantly, business sustainability for art enterprises, especially in remote areas.
For IACA this means at the local level developing a tailored, on-the-ground approach designed to help art centre staff fine tune all aspects of their operations. IACA prides itself on supporting and mentoring the most Indigenous art centre managers of any region. It is also developing a comprehensive artworker training program to ensure more Indigenous art centre managers move into the role in the near future. This is occurring at the same time as a number of art centres are diversifying their product range by moving into exciting new areas such as textile design, homewares and fashion, complementing their production of fine art and craft.
With its recent growth from 1.3 to five well qualified staff, IACA is embarking on a new strategic planning process for the next six years and moving headlong into a new phase as a maturing organisation. Our vision for the future will focus on developing exemplary art and art business practices for Far North Queensland Indigenous art centres and artists, positioning them to take their rightful place within the national and international art marketplace.
IACA Manager, Pamela Bigelow, has wide ranging experience as a manager across a variety of fields. Pamela holds a Bachelor of Education, with a double major in Art and Science from the University of Melbourne. She started her career teaching art in Victorian schools and went on to run the art program at Melbourne Zoo Education Service. Working with Indigenous communities in Northern Australia for over 25 years, Pamela has worked in both government and community organisations in a range of roles including as Manager of the Indigenous Lead Centre with TAFE QLD, Manager of Wet Tropics Natural and Cultural Heritage Interpretation with the Department of Environment and Heritage and Manager of Natural and Cultural Heritage Interpretation with the Conservation Commission of the Northern Territory in Darwin.